OK, so it's only three games into the season, but who would have predicted the team sitting atop the NL East at this early stage would be the 3-0 … New York Mets?! Yep, the club everyone expects to finish dead-last in the division pulled off a sweep of the Braves to begin its season. Perhaps those cozy new dimensions at Citi Field — the outfield wall has been moved in at several locations after David Wright, Jason Bay and others complained the last couple of years — are making a difference already.

The Nationals will have to hope they benefit as well from the shorter fences and perhaps get something going offensively right from the get-go tonight instead of waiting til the eighth inning to start producing. Davey Johnson is going with his regular lineup, with one exception: Jesus Flores makes his first start behind the plate, giving Wilson Ramos a breather.

Edwin Jackson, meanwhile, makes his Nationals debut on the mound. The right-hander, signed to an $11 million contract on Feb. 1, had a bit of a ragged spring. Not to suggest that will actually carry over into the regular season, but Jackson obviously would like to put together a nice outing tonight and erase whatever questions there may be.

I'm not in New York for this series, spending some quality time with the family for a couple of days in advance of Thursday's home opener. Enjoy the game and the conversation as always…

In watching the Phils/Marlins game I have detected something about the Phoolies Phans. When they have no offense, they are totally quiet – even at home. They also booed their own team – not all the fans, of course, but you could hear it — in their home opener. Soo – the conclusion I have drawn is this – whether we play at NatsPark or CB – the way to keep them quiet is to beat the ever-loving pants off them. The good thing about the game was that the Marlins actually did not dominate them as the score might seem. It was a rather ho-hum game – the Phils just hit everything right at the fielders. The Marlins scored their runs one at a time in un-spectacular fashion. Stanton did not play – sore tootsie. NLEast with an interesting(?) start. baseballswami

Those with access to the MLB TV package (free this week on DirecTV), can catch Milone's first start after the Nats game tonight. Hopefully Tom survives deeper into the night than I will though. It starts at 10 ET.

I think that Flores may play his way into something of a split with Ramos. The guy can play and Davey has been known to go with the hot hand. We'll see.I am just tickled pink that Desmond is off to such a nice start. Keep it up, Ian!Very excited for Thursday!dfh21

Tweets from Amanda, Adam, Dan, and Bill you mean …Looks like we won't have to worry about Gorzelanny, Mattheus, and Stammen they're staying … AND Davey isn't going to pitch Clippard and Lidge every night people. Better get used to it because its the right approach … and it sure looks as if you can add another arm damaged thanks to the Riggleman/Tracy/Sveum school of thought.

Oh that is bad news. Storen missing can be worked around in the short run, but in the long run this is really going to hurt. Lidge is not as good as he used to be, regardless of how he has been so far.

Uh-oh. Light a candle and pray for Drew. Dr. Andrews is never a good thing.In other news the Phillies blog had 57 entries so far after today's game and 54 were negative. This one kind of summed up the general vibe:The Ship is sinking fast. Man the lifeboats immediately!

Wasn't just Riggs. Davey pitched Storen a lot too last year–remember Drew pitched both ends of a double-header just so he could say he had done it. Have to say, however, Davey was breaking in Hot Rod and Mattheus, so he was trying to find alternatives.

Told you a few days ago that Storen's was the most worrying of the injuries, and Morse next. Not impact on the team, but seriousness of the situation.Hassan Pena is in Syracuse this year. He's another 97 mph potential closer from Latin America. Hopefully, he continues to progress so that the Nats can call on him if needed.

Natsochist, Marquis was out for 3 months or so in that season. As good as our bullpen was supposed to be this season, Storen was going to be a major reason for that.Anyways, it is what it is. Wish him best!

Ozzie is a genius. He's a lightning rod by design not by accident. Saying some quasi-provocative stuff about Castro will sell magazines and get his face all over Google and on TV all over Florida and ESPN and no publicity is bad publicity and what he said plays well at home in Venezuela and very few people under the age of 50 care very much about Fidel Castro. So what, now your abuelita Cubana won't go to the game, was she going anyway?

It's gonna most likely be Lidge/H-Rod. Clip does his thing, and it's more valuable when he does it anyway, earlier in games. Not only ones in which the Nats have a lead. We'll see.Hopefully, Storen's just on the shelf for a month or so.dfh21

No, I haven't gotten my card yet. When I went to the box office last week I brought my Tuesday ticket with me and they got the info off that for the discount.Agree Davey will alternate Lidge/Henry to close games, but that means he will have to stick with 7-man bullpen longer than he hoped. He was hoping to go to 6-man BP in May, and that probably won't happen.

Zito–yeah, and he had like a 10-pitch at-bat and got a single.AlsoTyler Moore just made mincemeat of an Adam Warren fastball for his first Triple-A home run. Mercy. 6-0 in the 2nd.and–Corey Brown hits second triple of the season to lead off the second for #Chiefs. Brown is 5-for-15 to start the season for Syracuse

Clippard is our 8th inning set-up guy…period. You don't take him out of that role. Gotta believe it's going to be HRod. I am also thinking Detwiler could prove to be very useful in the back end of that bullpen now. 95 MPH with a good sinker could be a big help in the later innings.

I can't believe how empty it is, either. ANd $2.50 for THAT pitching match up? New Yorkers are nuts. No offense to present company. I know Clip wants to be a closer, and I can see why. Totally selfishly, I want him in the 8th and sometimes the 7th. It doesn't matter WHO the closer is if the set up guy can't hold it together.

JaneB wrote:It doesn't matter WHO the closer is if the set up guy can't hold it together.Exactly — that's what sabermaticians have said for a while now (but few managers practice it) — that you put your best reliever in the most crucial situations, rather that just waiting to put him in the 9th inning to close it.

Let's all start clapping now for Tinkerbell's speedy recovery. Lidge and Henry can hold the fort for a while, but I think we need Druuu to be true contenders. And, Tyler needs to stay in the 8th inning where he belongs. As we saw on Sunday, if you can't get out of the 8th, then the 9th doesn't matter.

Erik: you and NatsJack are absolutely right. Whether Clip "wants" to close or not, he will pitch the 8th and maybe even the 7th. We have two guys who can handle the 9th and Clip has proved more valuable in his role for the last two years.Someone a couple posts back talked about eye-hand coordination and Werth and he might be on to something. He really does look lost. I still won't boo him but its a rough start.Jackson also looks a little lost in my opinion but he got out of it. I have not followed him before but I guess this is what he does. He obviously is used to throwing lots of pitches.The anon blatche booer could move to NY as they booed Bay as he ended his teams rally.

Erik, I was wondering, too, why Davey wasn't arguing that call. I decided HE decided it was too early to get all hot about it. That he didn't see it, I guess, makes sense. But ALR and RZimm both saw it. So did we. I want Davey to take up for his boys more than he did last year. But in the meantime, I am so happy the monkey is off Jayson's back. And I am having fun rooting against the team I grew up worshipping. Keep it up EJax!

JaneB, you were a Mets fan, too? That was my team growing up, too. From Tom Terrific in 1969, to Buddy Harrelson's fist right with Pete Rose in 1973, to Gooden/Strawberry (and manager Johnson in 1986), etc. Listening to Ralph Kiner, Bob Murphy, and Lindsey Nelson. Good times.But, in 2005, I switched to the Nats.

I haven't seen EJax all that much, but he seems to be leaving the ball up quite a bit, especially his breaking pitches. Maybe he is reacting to the ump not calling the low strike, but I find myself tensing when he is leaving those off speed pitches belt high. I feel lucky that he has only given up 1 run. Mets seem on his pitches.I checked his career GB%, and it kind of bounces around, so I am not sure if he generally pitches up in the zone.

I was just thinking and I have no statistical data to back this up. How many teams could lose their closer and not be just a little tight? People can trash Rizzo all they want but not about his building a pitching staff. We have a legit #5 in AAA, and bullpen that can handle just about any situation and Purke & Meyers on the way up in the years to come.

We will get our closer back. Though it makes me wonder if the thought that this was coming was behind the Lidge signing,mor if it really was all about mentoring.As I saw that, "maximum Tyler" spot that just ran, I realized that the one pitcher who, if he was lost for a long time, that could make my lose my breath and my heart hurt, would be Tyler.Thanks for the link, Erik. I guess I won't expect much arguing out of him this year, unless he designates someone to be his eyes for him. Which doesn't sound like Davey.

SJM308-I was walking past Phil Wood with my dad last year after a 1 run game ended on a Werth GIDP with a guy on 3rd and just said hey to him (because we are big baseball dorks) and we asked him about Werth. He said something to the effect that many in the organization were extremely worried about Werth ever being close to the player he was in Philly. I really hope he turns things around, but doesn't seem that too many are confident that he ever will. Of course, nobody will ever state that publicly.

Wonk, my first in-person game was a Mets game in August 1968. I can recite from memory two score or more Bad Mets Trades. Mookie remains my favorite Met, Stengal my favorite manager (I had no clue he ever had anything to do with the Yanks), Sidd Finch is the player that part of me STILL wonders, "why haven't we heard more about him? He was supposed to be BIG", and it took me until 2006 to want the Nats to beat them. But I am making up for lost time now.

I ask again why does this board pile on Desmond but leaves Espinosa alone despite the fact he can't learn to stop swinging for the fences every AB. It he doesn't learn to put the ball in play all his potential will remain just that, potential, as he continues to hit around 230.And I don't want to hear he's young; he's in the show, he can't learn to hit here.Rant over.

Wally,Morse did play LF — for eight innings or so, I believe — at the Senators' opener against Bowie on Thursday. But he DH'd on Friday and Sunday. I don't recall if reports about his "slight discomfort throwing" came before or after Thursday's game, which obviously is significant info.

Re: Red Carpet Reward cards: I asked our ticket rep about them when they didn't come with the tickets. He said that the cards they issued last year were supposed to be permanent (next year, those cards will actually be your tickets), so they aren't sending them out this year unless you ask for them. But it's no problem to send replacements if, like me, you threw them out. However, you don't need the cards to request Red Carpet tickets online.

Me three, my Dad took me to the Polo Grounds to see the Amazings and I spent my formative years at Shea. Even got to see Game 3 in '69Wow — Polo Grounds!I saw Game 3 of the NL Series in '69. Awesome game. Hank Aaron hit a homer for the Braves, but Nolan Ryan came in long relief, and the Mets completed the three game sweep to take the pennant. I convinced my mom to come onto the field with me.My favorite player (probably boring pick) was Tom Seaver. Jimmy Qualls still brings back shudders (note to others: he broke up Seaver's perfect game in '69). Seaver, btw, still holds the record with 10 consecutive K's in 1970. And I was there the day that Seaver set the record for consecutive 200+ K's seasons — I think it was Labor Day 1975. (what a pitching staff in 1969!)I got into the Mets when they were awful, and guys like Bunning and Koufax were throwing no-hitters and perfect games against them. (And, yes Stengel as manager was great).The Mets from 1984-1986 were pretty amazin' too. Game 6 of the '86 playoffs (16 inn against Houston) was just as exciting as the more famous Game 6 of the World Series (where there real goat was Calvin Schiraldi, not Buckner).But I digress . . . .

Samardzija with a career high in strikeouts yesterday. Pelfrey gets his career high today. Who does Eckstein have pictures of Rizzo with.C'mon Nats, slap some of these guys around. Its not like we are facing Lee and Halliday here.

Didn't I see Werth triple, Bernie make a great catch and Espinosa hit earlier in this game? I also thought that earlier today we were posting that Danny has been having a much better approach at the plate. Tie games make people cranky. Get used to it.

Watching Werth swing the bat, I haven't seen anyone look so awkward at the plate since Kruk v The Unit in the all-star game. He really looks lost and awkward. I had very high hopes for Werth this year, but watching him these past few days kinda makes that seem unlikely. Not trying to pile on, just posting an observation.

Re: Stengel(I had no clue he ever had anything to do with the Yanks)And he was a pretty good player with the Brooklyn Dodgers, too. Top 10 in slugging four times, once led the league in OBA — and, has the distinction of hitting the first ever inside-the-park homer in a world series game.

In all seriousness, if Werth won't waive his no trade clause, is there a way for the Nats to get him off their books? Sorry; don't know how contracts work in MLB. From a purely baseball standpoint, it looks like the best move is for Harper to replace Werth in RF when Bryce is ready. It's awful watching Werth at bat; you just don't expect him to do anything.

I don't understand.How can we have so very many hits and so very few runs? I just don't get it. I have also realized that as much as I wanted baseball season to come back, my stress level is higher now – every single day. I need a sports psychologist for fans to help me cope with being a Nats fan.

Swami, I had the same thought (about my longing for baseball to be back but my stress higher). I DO work with people to get out of their own heads, including some pros. I need an appointment with myself! Because I can't go for six months like this, or my family will disown me, if I don't disown me first.

Right now Corey Brown is outplaying Bryce Harper. A triple, two walks and two runs … batting .316 one strike out. Of course if you're inclined to use your head for something besides a hatrack and you REALLY follow the Nats and aren't another Kornheiser mobile … you would know that was all according to Davey Johnson's maniacal plan.Competition. Its what's for dinner!

Swami – when you find the right guy/girl please refer them to me. This is nuts! We have 159 games left and I am going nuts!As to Red Carpet. My guy tells me my card is good from last year and I am just waiting for the head of our ticket plan to allocate the points. Next year I plan to leave my group and take charge of my own seats.Go Nats!!

Treetop – as you come down 1/2 street go to the entrances on your right. They say they are for season ticket holders only but when I have used red carpet and have regular tickets they still let me through.FS – great story on Livan but I won't post it here. Just know he has no agent and worked this out on his own.

Treetop, center field gate, far sides. It says Season ticket holders. Though they let anybody in, as they should. If there's another place to get in, I don't know about it either. It's more special on paper than in life.

Just reading the season ticket rewards and I see that we have a VIP entrance. In the 3 years I've been a season ticket holder, I never knew of this. Where is it?CF Gate, left lane, very clearly marked. Often, it's just as crowded as the other lanes, though people are better prepared to go through the security check quickly.

Many times I have written the following but how can anyone hit Hrod when he goes 99 to 100 mph and then comes back with an 81 mph god knows what it is?Just a great job of getting better each time he pitches. Wonder if Davey brings him back. As I remember, he did not do well after sitting in the dugout last year.

One more starter but so far so good … barring injury … just hope Clipp's got the lucky 4 leaf clover still … his arm has been more than a bit abused the last 2 years … Looks like not much offense but big pitching … should be enough to get to 90 wins after a number of heart-attacks for die-hard fans …

Can you guys remember all the hate when Rizzo traded Willingham?? 1.Morse gets to step in and show what he can do 2. HRod has developed into a clutch reliever. Willingham is a nice player with injuries every year and a liability in the field.

A number of people have commented on Werth's awkward swing. I noticed and commented on this last year, saying that it seems like he's trying to guide the bat in slow motion or something, never actually taking a rip at the ball. Then I saw a piece, I forget by whom, that said this aspect of his swing is intentional — designed to keep the bat head in the hitting zone for longer. And if you watch closely, you'll see that that swing yields good hits as well as awkward Ks and GDPs. So I don't know what's wrong with him, but it's not the swing.

thanks guys.Just checked BBref and saw that he was signed a day after Houston released him. I don't get why Braves of all teams, with all their pitching prospects, would sign Livo. Anyways I am kinda glad he has a big league job.

I don't get why Braves of all teams, with all their pitching prospects, would sign Livo.Simple, if Davey and Rizzo hadn't shut Livo down last year he would have won more than 10 games and finished well over 200 innings. They decided to showcase the prospects for the eventual trade … Livo wasn't having as good a year as 2010 but it was far better than John Lannan's. And most here think Lannan is a great #5 for a team in contention (I certainly don't.). If Livo's better? He could be better than #4 if he gets on a toll. He has a rubber arm. You don't have to worry as much about his time between starts … heck you could throw him in the bullpen as long relief. Could the Nats have used him this season? Heck yes. As long relief perhaps #5 … but the Nats current strategy is to get younger … not older. To develop prospects in the minors and finish the development in the majors. And that's why any suggestion that the Nats trade for Marlon Byrd is completely and utterly ridiculous. You already have one 33 year old outfielder in noticeable decline and because of his contract there isn't much you can do about it.

Erik: Werth has nothing to do with the Willingham trade. No doubt Werth has not produced but he wasn't in the discussion on this. You just keep bringing up the same old stuff. People here before you came along were crushing Rizzo for dealing Willingham but until he left there was no way Riggs would have put Morse in LF and that was the key for me.I think I mentioned earlier that Hrod does not come out of the dugout for a 2nd inning well and damn if it isn't true. Also true that their SS got his bunt down and our SS did not. Swami, get that psychologist down here ASAP

Very disappointed in this whole game. Umpires bad calls, Edwin Jackson gives up a HR to the #8 hitter with 2 outs, and HenRod melts down.The most troubling part is Henry looked like the guy I saw last year.

Espinosa got hammered by the runner flying down to first base … then got up and went for the ball and almost got an out at third base. Davey's giving them lots of rope. Wants to see who can replace Storen. No not Lidge coming off of shoulder surgery … next up for an audition: Ryan Mattheus.

Anyone for some Kool-aid? Maybe tomorrow? We are missing our closer, a good outfielder and our mvp hitter. We opened the season on the road in Chicago in the wind with a brand new pitcher, who came from the american league. Then we came to NY, first night game of the season,with another new pitcher to the team and nl east, in the cold. A .500 record with the tight games we have been in and with our offense is probably an Easter miracle.

Not sure what choice Davey had, once he brought on Henry for the 8th. Tie game, you don't know how many innings it will go. No off days for a long time. Can't use all your pitchers. Henry needed to come through.

Our hitting isn't that bad if you leave out our outfield. Total hits from Nats outfielders this year = 3. Pitiful. Need Morse badly. And bring up Harper come May. Can't be worse than what we have. You know its bad when I'm actually looking forward to Ankiel hitting in place of our current outfielders.

SJM-Rizzo didn't think Willingham was good enough to be a part of the future here in Washington and thought Werth was by far the superior type of player that he could build around. To me, that is an epic fail considering the amount invested. Not trying to beat a dead horse, but Werth was a replacement for Willingham. Morse would have played either way. It was actually a pretty awful trade that looks even worse after signing Werth to that albatross of a contract. I mean, would you trade Werth or Morse for a guy who MIGHT be a useful bullpen piece and a minor league CF prospect who MIGHT make the roster one day. That is what Willingham was at the time. He is almost the exact same player as Morse is right now. Maybe he bombs and Corey Brown is a stud. Not looking like that right now, though. Anyways, bad loss tonight but at least we got 158 more to go. Somebody needs to give Jobu some rum to wake up bats!!!

Exposed– don't forget if Henry holds them in the 9th you still need a pitcher for the 10th (at least). Tougher to win a tie game when you are the visitor. Henry had only pitched to one batter in the 8th. If he is going to be a closer, he is going to have to learn to do 4-out games.Try finding a city, get the game (even if you don't get past the blank screen, just get past the "verifying your account"), then turn off hide-my-ip so you get back your bandwidth and "change broadcast". Works pretty good as long as your internet signal stays and you don't exit MLB.

Or I could just go to local sports bar like usual it helps ease pain to consume beverages immediately after implosion….btw you make a good point about being the road team, guess we better get used to HRod.

JMax is a RH platoon. Again, the Yankees and Nats wanted him as an everyday player. Isn't going to happen. The good news for JMax was he got a lot of tutoring from Kevin Long which will make him a better hitter for the rest of his career.

Henry has had bad games before. He will have them again, but what a thing of beauty when he is on. I do think he can develop into a closer, but if Lidge's arm is healthy, he has a track record of success. I would like to see Lombo get in the lineup for Espy tomorrow.

I don't disagree with the decision to send HRod out for the 9th. I do think that DJ should have had someone warming and replaced him before he allowed the winning run to score. Whether that is as soon as he walked the leadoff guy I'm not sure. Maybe let him pitch to the next batter, but not once the winning run was at 3rd for sure. He was rattled and had lost his command. Gorzalanny did a great job saving the pen with three scoreless innings. Clip was available, so was Lidge, so was Burnett. Even Stammen could have gone an inning. You can't just send guys out for learning experiences and hope for the best. You have to win baseball games. DJ was asleep at the switch.

A few positives to take away from the first 4 games.1)- The pitching has been very good (2.83 ERA).The starters have an ERA of 3.57, bullpen is 1.46.2)- LaRoche is crushing the ball.3)- The NL east is wide open. Doubtful the Mets could possibly keep this up, the Braves look not so great, the Phils will likely continue to struggle without 2 of their key hitters.Still so early in the season, but things could be much, much worse for the Nats.